Please note: If you have a promotional code you'll be prompted to enter it prior to confirming your order.

Customer Sign In

Returning Customer

If you have an account, please sign in.

New Customers

If you subscribe to any of our print newsletters and have never activated your online account, please activate your account below for online access. By activating your account, you will create a login and password. You only need to activate your account once.

In Case You Missed It:

Diagnosis: Coronary Artery Disease

Most people fear heart disease — and with good reason: it’s the leading cause of death for both men and women. But something that people may not realize is that preventing this disease is often within their control. Most people who develop heart disease have one or more major risk factors that are within their power to change. These include lack of exercise, high blood pressure, and abnormal cholesterol levels. There are surefire ways to tackle these risk factors that you can include in your daily life.

You might also be interested in...

In Diagnosis: Heart Failure, you’ll learn the mechanics of the heart, the symptoms and warning signs of heart failure, and the keys to an effective treatment plan. This report will help you understand and invest in the steps you need to take to keep heart failure in check. You’ll get guidance for monitoring symptoms, for sticking to your doctor's strategy, and for making heart-smart lifestyle changes.…

Most people fear heart disease — and with good reason: it’s the leading cause of death for both men and women. But something that people may not realize is that preventing this disease is often within their control.

Most people who develop heart disease — at least 8 in every 10 — have one or more major risk factors that are within their power to change. These include lack of exercise, high blood pressure, and abnormal cholesterol levels. There are surefire ways to tackle these risk factors that you can include in your daily life. This Special Health Report, Diagnosis: Coronary Artery Disease,describes in detail these strategies and shows you how to keep your heart and arteries healthy for years to come.

It also includes a risk calculator to help predict your odds of developing heart disease over a 10-year period, descriptions of what to expect from various diagnostic tests and procedures for heart problems, and a detailed guide to medications for the heart. And the special section describes lifestyle habits that can help your heart stay healthy.

Whether you or someone you love has heart disease or you’re looking to prevent it, Diagnosis: Coronary Artery Disease, can help.

Prepared by the editors of Harvard Health Publications in consultation Peter H. Stone, M.D., Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Senior Physcian at Brigham and Women's Hosptial and Director of Vasular Profiling Research Group at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. 53 pages. (2013)

What is coronary artery disease?

Recognizing and reducing risk factors

What you can’t control

What you can control

Assessing your level of cardiovascular risk

Special bonus section: Lifestyle habits that help your heart

Diagnosing heart disease

Your medical history

Physical examination

Electrocardiogram

Exercise stress test

Pharmacologic stress test

Nuclear stress test

Echocardiography

Coronary angiogram

Computed tomography

Coping with a heart attack

Is it a heart attack?

Treating a heart attack

Healing your heart: Cardiac rehabilitation

Medications for heart disease

Aspirin

Blood pressure medications

Cholesterol medications

Nitrates

Anticlotting medications

Clot-busting medications

Combination medications

Heart procedures

Angioplasty

Coronary artery bypass surgery

Living with coronary heart disease

Resources

Glossary

Healing your heart: Cardiac rehabilitation

Right after having a heart attack or undergoing angioplasty or bypass surgery, you’ll need time to recuperate. In addition to the emotional impact of a brush with mortality, you’ll feel run-down and physically depleted. But before you spend your day resting, keep in mind that even short periods of bed rest and inactivity weaken the muscles, heart, and lungs.

Blood loss from surgery, angioplasty, and multiple blood tests can leave you with low blood levels of iron (anemia), a common cause of fatigue. Your appetite may have flagged, and not eating and drinking saps your energy. Finally, your body may be adjusting to a new regimen of medications, which can also cause weakness.

Not that long ago, rest was what the doctor ordered after a heart attack or heart trouble. Taking it easy, the thinking went, wouldn’t stress the heart and would help it heal more quickly. Now, doctors know that inactivity doesn’t help your heart or the rest of your body. Exercise not only strengthens your heart, it helps your muscles use oxygen more efficiently, easing the heart’s workload.

What is cardiac rehab?

A month or so after a heart attack or bypass surgery, and sooner after angioplasty, you should start cardiac rehabilitation, a medically supervised program designed to help you heal your heart and keep it healthy. The centerpiece of cardiac rehabilitation is usually a structured and supervised exercise program.

Rehab programs also teach people about heart disease and how to manage it. Many also offer classes or information on weight management, nutrition education, stress reduction, smoking cessation, and returning to work. The staff typically includes doctors, nurses, exercise specialists, physical and occupational therapists, nutritionists, and psychologists.

Depending on your condition, private insurers or Medicare may cover the cost. People usually come to the facility at least once a week, and up to three times a week, and stay from one to several hours. Some people attend for just a few weeks, while others continue for months.

Why rehab?

Cardiac rehabilitation programs have been shown to reduce deaths by up to 25% during the few years following the heart attack or procedure. That’s at least as good as taking aspirin, a beta blocker, a statin, or a combination of these. Doctors sometimes overlook the importance of referring their patients to cardiac rehab, so ask your physician if rehab is right for you and about local facilities.